A broad group of advocacy organizations from the progressive and women’s health communities has joined together to form the Coalition to Pass Health Care Reform and Stop Stupak! The coalition’s goal is to ensure that health care reform is passed and does not restrict women’s ability to purchase private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion.

The coalition announced today that it will hold a DC Lobby Day on Wednesday, December 2nd, as part of its National Week of Action, Monday November 30 through Sunday, December 6, to ensure that the anti-choice Stupak amendment is not included in the final health care reform legislation.

A press release from the coalition states:

The Stupak amendment, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, would, if enacted, effectively prohibit millions of women from using their own money to purchase private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care benefits. The result would be nothing less than an unacceptable ban on abortion coverage. If this bill is enacted, millions of American women will effectively be prohibited from purchasing private insurance that covers abortion through the new “exchange” or marketplace to be established under health care reform. The Stupak amendment is a radical proposal that upends current law on abortion coverage in the United States. It goes far beyond the Hyde amendment, which has unfairly prohibited the use of federal funds for abortion in most cases for more than 30 years. The Stupak amendment goes beyond Hyde because it would restrict abortion coverage by private health insurance plans in an unprecedented and dangerous manner.

The National Week of Action and the DC Lobby Day on December 2 will mobilize advocates from all over the country to communicate clearly to members of Congress that women need health reform that covers all of their health needs, including comprehensive reproductive health care. T

"The coalition," says a joint press statement, "is building on the wave of pro-choice activism sparked by the passage of the amendment more than two weeks ago."

Since passage, some members of the House who voted for the Stupak ban have expressed their doubts about this amendment. Notably, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not include the Stupak language in the health care reform bill he introduced on November 19, and President Obama has indicated that the amendment goes too far.